Our Congressional
Debate Team

Quest Sandel has served as Ascend's Co-Camp Director, Chief Executive Officer, and Curriculum Director of Congressional Debate since its inception. He also serves as the Head Congressional Debate Coach at James Logan High School in Union City, California. Since he started coaching in 2016 at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, he has been the winningest Congressional Debate Coach in the United States. He has coached success at every level, including the 2019 & 2023 NSDA Senate National Champions, the 2023 NSDA House National Champion, Champions of the 2020, 2022, & 2023 Tournament of Champions, the 2021, 2023, 2024, & 2025 California State Champions, the 2023 Texas and Michigan State Champions, and numerous other national finalists and invitational champions.

Outside of debate, he has a passion for psychology, lemonade, University of Michigan Football, reading, and fantasy football — and wants you to know he's a 2× champion in his main fantasy league.

Serving as Chief Operating Officer of Ascend Speech & Debate, Aditya also coaches students through Sandel Academy. Throughout his career in Congressional Debate, he was an NSDA finalist, Harvard finalist, and champion of Ascend's camp tournament. On the coaching side, Aditya is a Senior Instructor at Ascend and assistant Congressional Debate coach at James Logan High School. He has coached the 2025 California State Champion, 2025 TOC runner-up, 2025 Harvard Round Robin Champion, finalists at NSDA and Harvard, and contributed to the 2024 California State Champion.

Aditya prides himself on argument creation, refutation, and showing students how to embrace their personality in Congressional Debate. Outside of debate, Aditya enjoys running, dominating fantasy football, and playing with both of his cats.

Now serving as Ascend's Chief Marketing Officer, Tyler Luu is a three-year alumnus of Ascend Speech and Debate and a returning coach. In 2023, Tyler did not lose to a non-presiding Congressional Debater at any tournament he competed in. His victories include the 2023 California State Championship, 2023 Tournament of Champions, and the NSDA National Championship — making him the only California Congressional Debater to win the "Triple Crown."

He has coached the MS TOC Champion, the UT Austin Champion, and finalists at Long Beach, MLK, Emory, Harvard, TOC, and California State. Tyler puts extra emphasis on making performances captivating, simplifying complexity, and helping debaters channel their natural personalities. Outside debate, he's a food enthusiast, proud Pokémon trainer, and aspiring comedian.

Joseph Maucieri competed in Congressional Debate for 4 years, highlighted by a 3rd place finish in the 2020 NSDA House of Representatives. He has been a top assistant to Quest for multiple years and understands the Sandel Academy curriculum better than anyone outside of its Curriculum Director. His contributions include the 2023 NSDA House & Senate Champions, 2021, 2023, & 2024 California State Title Winners, the 2023 and 2024 Tournament of Champions placements, multiple national finalists, and a top-6 placement at Harvard.

Notably, Joseph served as the primary coach for Davis High School Speech & Debate when they won their first team award at NSDA Nationals in school history. He believes every debater's individual personality should be highlighted — no student should try to replicate someone else's success. In his free time he plays video games, tries to stop his overweight cat from getting stuck on its back, and talks about how good Rohit Jhawar was at Congress.

Emily Donaldson is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a five-year consecutive Ascend coach. After competing in Congressional Debate for all four years of high school, she accumulated over 12 TOC bids and was ranked as high as 5th in the nation. She has been in final rounds at NSDA Nationals (12th in Senate), Harvard, Glenbrooks, and Blue Key, with top-six finishes at Bronx, Emory, GMU, Blue Key Round Robin, and Harvard Round Robin.

Emily previously coached Congressional Debate at Durham Academy for three years, helping students reach elimination rounds at Yale, Glenbrooks, Blue Key, Princeton, Minneapple, Bronx, Harvard, and NCFLs. She strives to teach students core crystallization and refutation skills that hold up across lay and experienced judge panels. Outside of debate, she enjoys saltwater fishing, studying Arabic, and attempting (mostly failing at) difficult yoga poses.

A sophomore at Stanford University and graduate of Redlands High School, Adrian has been involved in Congressional Debate since seventh grade. He has accumulated over 25 TOC bids and placed top 10 at the NSDA tournament five years in a row. Proud accomplishments include winning CHSSA state, placing 2nd at TOC, 7th at NSDA for two years, 2nd at Glenbrooks, and championing the Berkeley, ASU, and Jack Howe invitationals. He also claims to have beaten Quest 1v1 in basketball.

Adrian believes too many people overcomplicate Congressional Debate — clarity in speaking and refutation is everything. As a coach, he wants each student to have their own unique strategy and to have fun while doing it. A 3-year Ascend alumni as a student and 2-year alum as a coach, Adrian loves tennis, channeling his inner LeBron on the courts (despite being 5'6"), and devouring cheese.

Involved in Speech and Debate for 9 years — 4 in Congressional Debate — Vincent Nguyen is a 3-year Ascend alumnus. He is the 2025 California State Champion, a 2× NSDA Senate finalist (5th nationally), 8th at the Tournament of Champions, 2nd at Stanford, MLK, and ASU, 3rd at CSULB, and 4th at the Harvard Round Robin. He served as captain of the #1 ranked Speech and Debate Program in America, founded his own debate nonprofit, and has 4 years of coaching experience.

Vincent has coached 2 National Finalists in the House — one of whom placed 4th. He teaches students to be "1 of 1" — debate should be both impactful and entertaining, and every student has a style that's distinctly their own. Outside of debate, he likes late-night Taco Bell runs, lifting weights, and jamming to country and house music.

Currently a senior at UC Berkeley, Charlie previously competed in Congressional Debate at Monte Vista High School. He won the Senate Leadership Bowl Championship, placed second in the Senate, championed the Stanford University and UC Berkeley Invitationals, and finaled at the Tournament of Champions. He placed third at California State, fourth at the Harvard Round Robin — as the first debater from his school ever invited — and top-six at the MLK Invitational three times, Yale, and Glenbrooks.

Charlie's coaching philosophy holds that Congress is not just about debating pros and cons — it's a pursuit of truth through logic and reasoning over pure data. His coaching emphasizes nuanced understanding of the status quo, framing arguments, and developing a speaking style personalized to each student. When not coaching at Ascend, Charlie can be found walking his dog Snuffles, DJing, or playing pickleball. This will be his 4th summer at Ascend.